page_title: Bogd Khanate of Mongolia
section_title: Revolution and civil war in Russia
hierarchical_section_title: Bogd Khanate of Mongolia / Revolution and civil war in Russia
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Атаман Григорий Михайлович Семёнов. Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, Ataman, leader of White-Army (b.1890–d.1946)
context_page_description: The Bogd Khanate of Mongolia was the government of Mongolia between 1911 and 1919 and again from 1921 to 1924. By the spring of 1911, some prominent Mongolian nobles including Prince Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren persuaded the Jebstundamba Khutukhtu to convene a meeting of nobles and ecclesiastical officials to discuss independence from the Manchu-led Qing China. On November 30, 1911 the Mongols established the Temporary Government of Khalkha. On December 29, 1911 the Mongols declared their independence from the collapsing Qing Empire following the Xinhai Revolution. They installed as theocratic sovereign the 8th Bogd Gegeen, highest authority of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia, who took the title Bogd Khaan or "Holy Ruler". The Bogd Khaan was last khagan of Mongolia. This ushered in the period of "Theocratic Mongolia", also known as the Bogd Khanate.
  Three historical currents were at work during this period. The first was the efforts of the Mongolians to form an independent, theocratic state that embraced Inner Mongolia, Barga, Upper Mongolia, Western Mongolia and Tannu Uriankhai.
context_section_description: The Bolshevik revolution in 1917 and the resultant outbreak of civil war in Russia provided new opportunities for China to move into Mongolia. The Bolsheviks established workers' councils in Siberia, a process essentially completed by the summer of 1918. The presence of the Bolsheviks so close to the Mongolian border unsettled both the Mongolians and the Chinese High Commissioner, Chen Yi.  Rumours were rife of Bolshevik troops preparing to invade Mongolia.  The Cossack consular guards at Urga, Uliastai, and Khovd, traditionally loyal to the Imperial House of Romanov, had mutinied and left.  The Russian communities in Mongolia were themselves becoming fractious, some openly supporting the new Bolshevik regime. The pretext was the penetration of the White Russian troops from Siberia. Chen Yi sent telegrams to Beijing requesting troops and, after several efforts, was able to persuade the Bogd Khaan's government to agree to the introduction of one battalion. By July 1918, the Soviet threat from Siberia had faded and the Mongolian foreign minister told Chen Yi that troops were no longer needed. Nevertheless, the Chinese battalion continued to move and in August arrived to Urga.
  Anti-Bolshevik forces in Asia were fragmented into a number of regiments. One was led by the Supreme Commander of the Baikal Cossacks, Grigory Semyonov, who had assembled a detachment of Buryats and Inner Mongolian nationalists for the creation of a pan-Mongolian state. Semyonov and his allies made several unsuccessful efforts to encourage the Bogd Khaan's government to join it. The Khalkha people regarded themselves as the natural leaders of all Mongols and feared being submerged into a new political system that likely would be led by Buryats, whom the Khalkhas deeply mistrusted. When inducements failed, Semyonov threatened to invade Mongolia to force compliance.
  The Bogd Khaanate was in a difficult position. On the one hand, it lacked the strength to repel a pan-Mongolist attack; on the other, they were profoundly disquieted by the thought of more Chinese troops in Mongolia. The first detachment of Chinese troops arrived to Urga in July 1919. Prince N.A Kudashev, the old Imperial Russian ambassador to Beijing, indicated a violation of the Kyakhta Agreement by China. This step in conflict with the Kyakhta agreement was considered by the Chinese as the first step toward Chinese sovereignty over Mongolia. In any event, the threatened pan-Mongolian invasion never materialized because of dissension between the Buryats and Inner Mongolians, and Semyonov's dream of a pan-Mongolian state died.
caption: Grigory Semyonov
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